Seneca had money and privilege. Lots of it.

Yet where did it get him?

It didn’t save him from illness, or spare him from years of convalescence. It didn’t protect him from the whims of an emperor, who exiled him for false charges. It didn’t save him from tragically losing a child. In the end, it didn’t even give him the freedom to walk away from Nero’s service when he wanted to. Even with his vast wealth, it was a problem he couldn’t buy himself out of.

Does this mean there is no advantage to having money? No. Nor does it imply that not having money is better than having it (Seneca would deem money a ‘preferred indifferent’—better to have than not have).

It’s just a reminder: All the work and sacrifice, fantasies or desires, fame and power…none of it will give you what you think it will. Your fortune will not protect you from what fate has in store for you–at best it will insulate you from some inconveniences. But your money will not buy you happiness or peace.

Those things can never come from externals. They will not be found in a bank balance or a magic number. They can only come from within.